What others think of our services

The way in which the Council is monitored and assessed by others is changing. In the past, a number of different government bodies were involved in monitoring and assessing our performance. Their judgements fed into the annual rating we received under the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA).

In the future, the ways in which we will be judged on our performance will be very different, though we remain committed to delivering high quality, value for money services. The Audit Commission will be disbanded and there will be no further Comprehensive Area Assessments. Instead, local councils will become more open and accountable to the community, publishing a range of spending and performance data to enable local people to form their own judgements on areas including whether we are well governed, delivering priorities, financially robust or achieving value for money.

Although some inspections have ceased, others continue, particularly around services for the most vulnerable including children's services and adult social care. The main organisations involved in assessing council services are:

• Care Quality Commission - registers, inspects and reports on adult social care services in England
• Ofsted - inspects and regulates the care of children and young people, and education and skills provision for learners of all ages
• Local Government Improvement and Development - is a local government body that works with councils to improve their services and encourage joint working across the sector